Photo: Rafael Mosberger and Henrik Andreasson, Retenua, the inventors behind emitrace®
Retenua is one of the finalists in the Swedish Mining Innovation Award 2021 for its robust solution emitrace® that increases security underground with the help of IR camera and smart AI-driven vision technology. We got a few words with Rafael Mosberger who is the CEO of Retenua.
Congratulations Rafael, you are a finalist in the Swedish Mining Innovation Award 2021 with your innovation! How does it feel?
It feels great, of course, and it’s inspiring to know that the industrial industry is noticing the work we’ve been doing in recent years.
Tell us a little about your innovation.
The product emitrace® is a new innovative assistance system for heavy industrial vehicles that alerts workers around mobile machines to alert the driver to potential collision risks. The solution helps industrial companies to improve safety around heavy vehicles and prevent accidents where workers can be hit.
What makes your solution so unique?
The unique thing about the solution is the robustness and applicability of the method. Ordinary camera systems require a certain degree of illumination to detect people in the frame using smart algorithms. In underground mines, however, the lighting varies very much, just as above ground when vehicles are used at night. We have developed our product with just those challenges in focus and have therefore come up with a solution that is clearly different from anything else on the market today.
Why is it an important innovation?
Safety and working environment is a very important theme that is high on the agenda in Europe’s mining industry. To improve safety when driving heavy industrial vehicles, technology is needed that can meet the challenges posed by mining environments. And precisely with a focus on that aspect, we have created a technology that has the potential to make a real difference in relation to previous solutions. In the future, smart technology for personal detection will become even more important as the industry shows a clear trend towards more autonomous operation where mobile machines must continuously keep track of people and objects in the environment.
What else is happening at Retenua right now?
We work on several tracks, both to further develop the technology for which we have been nominated, but also with other sensor technology such as radar and sufferers that are used for locating, navigating or obstacle detection when driving autonomous vehicles in mines. Our team develops smart algorithms that are at the forefront when it comes to interpreting and understanding sensor data and extracting valuable information from it.
And finally, how do you see the future?
In connection with digitalisation and the trend towards more autonomous operation, the need for smart sensor systems and robust AI solutions is continuously increasing. At Retenua, we are excited to actively contribute to the development of the industry and ensure that new solutions do maximum benefit to society.
Congratulations again Retenua!